Autodidact: (n) a self-taught person. Poet: (n) a person who writes poetry.
Autodidactpoet: (n) A blog full of thoughts from a self-taught writer.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Monday's list

1) It kind of sucks when you call somebody to fix your heat, and they come...but only half fix it. I love space heaters. And blankets. And my own 26.5 lb personal space heater named Marshall, aka Mo-Man.

2) After I wrote last night, I did go and meditate, and I did a body scan meditation before bed. I woke up this morning with a headache (but not a migraine), and significantly less stressed about life. Self-care: 1; Impending migraine: 0.

3) I am doing two presentations tomorrow. How they both ended up on the same day is beyond me, but they're both on highly preferred topics, and one is technically a "didactic" and not a presentation (so I can elicit lots of conversation and participation. I'm inexplicably jazzed about both of them, in spite of the fact that I am underprepared.

4) I got this from a friend today and you should check it out, because...goats. Who doesn't love goats? Particularly baby goats!!!!

5) I can't decide how I feel about this. On the one hand, I think that, if it works, it's a great idea. Let's use the devices we're all attached to for something really good. I'll also admit that, while it doesn't address the underlying problem, maybe it's part of the answer for now. If it increases safety now, let's do it.

On the other hand, it doesn't address the underlying problem. While I would hope things like this would work in some situations, it definitely would not work in every situation, or even in most situations. Also, most women are raped by people they know. If you're having a fun night with friends/significant other, etc, are you going to have your phone on standby and your finger on the "call everyone I know" button? For people in violent relationships, isn't their partner going to know they have this app and are paying the $4.99 per month to protect themselves? And how many times would you potentially make a fake call -- either by pressing the wrong button, or feeling uncomfortable about something and sending out alerts/messages? How many times do you get to "cry wolf" to your friends before they potentially just stop responding, or don't know whether to take it seriously? Also, do we need something else that puts the responsibility on the woman? I mean, we have to wear our rape-proof underwear, remember our phones (and have them accessible at just the right moment), AND we have to pay a monthly fee to alert our friends that we're about to be raped?

But then again...if it increases the safety of some individuals now...is it worth it?

I don't have any answers.

6) I find it hilarious that my dog loves playing with toilet paper tubes. So much so, in fact, that he knows the sound of an empty toilet paper tube on the toilet paper holder and will force his way into the bathroom. If there is not one immediately available to him, he will check the trash can and will take it out of the trash can to chew it up.

7) Related to number 6, stepping on gobs of wet, chewed cardboard is pretty much the grossest thing ever.

8) Related to number 5, I recommend this article. It's one of the best I've seen on the whole Yoffe article issue that evolved, and the recent uptick in conversations about alcohol and sexual assault. I'm really interested in the idea of bystander intervention, which the article touches on briefly, and I kind of want a reason to go and get certified in this program. Anybody got a reason for me, other than "it sounds important and really interesting"? I plan on writing more about the idea of bystander intervention. No promises, but it is currently listed in the mental docket of upcoming posts.

I wanted this list to get to 10...but this is all I've got. So 8 it is. A more comprehensive post will be written on Wednesday, I promise. I have to go finish those two presentations. Oops.

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About Me

"My continuing passion is to part a curtain,
that invisible shadow that falls between people,
the veil of indifference to each other's presence,
each other's wonder, each other's human plight."
Eudora Welty